Baguio Insider

Great news!

According to The Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Baguio Centennial Commission, headed by mayoral uncle Virgilio Bautista, is planning to build a museum at the old Diplomat Hotel location on Dominican hill because, as they say, it has a good view of the city plus there are trees all around the grounds.

I think this is a good idea because Baguio is in need of a vibrant museum, plus if Diplomat is truly haunted, the museum doors should close before the sun sets. Instead of having kids trespass, or the caretakers charging a fee for those who want to make out inside or go ghost-hunting, the idle property will be put to good use. Plus it can be packaged with tours that go to Lourdes Grotto or Easter Weaving and other attractions in that general area.

My qualms: tourists will have to pass the uber ugly side of Baguio to get there — Naguilian Road and City Camp — and students will use the excuse that it’s too far for them to go. And finally, those who have seen the decrepit state that Diplomat Hotel is in will know that a huge amount of money will be required to fix it up.

The city should have bought the Muller House on Kisad because of the great architecture and location. It has been for sale since about 10 years ago but the city chose to build overpasses and flyovers instead. Now it’s a Korean restaurant. Haaay!

According to the same article, the search is on for Baguio’s 100. The 100 persons are to be honored “for their roles in making Baguio what it is today” Why would anyone want to be blamed recognized for that, I cannot fathom! Hahaha!

And here is recent news courtesy of good old Baguio Midland Courier:

1. City Hall employees may not wear uniforms and IDs when entering bars. This is because they allegedly demand discounts. I used to own a bar, and yes, this is so true! But then again, many folks here like to throw their weight around by virtue of their ‘office.’

About 3 years ago, I was rearranging the cars in my garage. So one was parked for a few minutes on the street while the other one backed out of the garage. There was only one of me and two cars to be moved. Now, a man in a City Hall barong (what was he doing home at 3 p.m.?) started yelling that I could not park on Tacay Road (where I lived for a while — and although it was a beautiful 12-br house at the crossing for Quezon Hill Road and Tacay, it was an ugly neighborhood).

I told him it was just until I got the other car out and his mouth kept going on and on. Finally, I got really angry and told him that I was parking for 5 minutes only (I make sure I have enough garage space for all my cars and that of my guests at all times) while his two cars were perennially parked on the one-lane and a half wide alley because he converted his garage into a schoolroom.

The man tells me the rules are different for his alley and for Tacay road, because, according to him, the latter was a main road. And just in case I was an idiot and did not know local laws and ordinances, he was hoping that I would believe him because HE WAS A CITY HALL EMPLOYEE. I told him that a street was a parking street for as long as there was no prohibition against parking. It was not a matter of width or traffic, it was a matter of ordinance. And if logic were to be applied, 5 minutes on a main road that was wider versus all day in narrow alley, the 5 minutes wins. He starts cursing, so I say, “I’m paying for your salary, stupid!”

What Mayor Bautista should ingraine in these people is that they’re public servants (operative word: SERVANTS) and not entitled to any special privileges.

Ok, to be fair to him, he was quoted by the Courier saying to erring employees, “Mahiya naman kayo.”

2. Mines View-like Stalls on Burnham.

City mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. last week said permanent stalls similar to those put up in Mines View would be set up at the former carnival site of the Burnham Park to raise revenues in maintaining and managing the park.

He said the other purpose is to put a stop to illegal vending in the park. “We can develop the area so we could regularize and legalize vending.”

“Parks are supposed to be beyond the commerce of man (ed. he KNOWS this!) but in this instance, we need the funds to pay the salaries of park personnel,” he said.

Ah, how much will you charge for rent per stall? How much will it cost you to build the stalls? Are you not afraid the people who rent the stalls will also LIVE, EAT and DUMP there? How much are the salaries of the park employees? How many are there on payroll? You justify the choice of area saying that folks are dumping their garbage there. Then maybe you should FIRE the park employees for not doing their job, so we do not need stalls on Burnham to pay for their salaries. Please show us the math. I think the justifications for this ‘project’ are pretty lame, in the first place.

But honestly, the real issue here is: how come Burnham Park is seen by the local officials as a revenue-generating business? Or is the building of stalls THE revenue-generating business for some people. Won’t renting out the WHOLE Burnham Park to a private developer for a mall or amusement park solve ALL your problems? Readers, please note the sarcasm.

Is Baguio City poor? Can it not afford to pay the salaries of its employees? Can it not afford to give us an uncluttered Burnham Park as breathing space?

There are other remedies: As for illegal vendors, arrest them or drive them out of town! Who cares about all the cheap Divisoria/China-made junk and pirated DVDs they peddle anyway? Wouldn’t it be easier to require them to pay permits (make it high to discourage them and because they have no overhead costs), and wear an ID?

If there is no political will, Baguio will continue to look like and behave like a marketplace!

3. Kennon Road Unsafe, PUVs must pass Marcos Highway.

“In the interest of public safety considering the unstable road condition of Kennon Road, all inter-regional public utility vehicles plying that route are hereby directed to take Marcos Highway effective Sept. 1, 2007.”

Thus reads the regional office memorandum circular from the Department of Transportation and Communications, which came with a directive for the law enforcement officers of the agency to apprehend violators.

This was the same circular issued by DOTC regional director Atty. Federico Mandapat Jr. on Aug. 24, which was objected to by Benguet governor Nestor Fongwan.

I dunno. I’ve been passing Kennon Road without incident for the past 15 years, I would say. They say it was damaged irreparably by the 1990 earthquake (I think it’s the extensive mining that did it). Honestly, before they make decisions like this, should the public not be given comparative statistics first? Just so we don’t allege that these decisions are, well, baseless?

Well, since the prohibition is for public utility vehicles who ferry the kids to and fro the schools in the different camps, and for those mini-buses who are too large to be passing there in the first place, the quarry trucks and I get the road all to ourselves!

Actually, there’s a trick to Kennon: Wait two days after rainfall before passing through it. As for Marcos Highway, it’s foggy all year round late afternoons and evenings (my preferred travel time). How safe is that? And somehow, I cannot imagine that Kennon is less safe than, say, McArthur Highway with all the ubiquitous tricycles and bullying buses that force you off the road.

Was there any other good news last week?

Well I do recall reading an article about the city entering into an agreement with a private corporation for the supply of water at Php20/cubic meter, to augment that supplied by the Baguio Water District. And hey, come to think of it, that’s WAY CHEAPER than BWD rates!

I remember seeing UP Law buddy Martin R. a few years ago at Camp John Hay. He mentioned that his company, Benguet Corporation, was ready to supply us with water from the mines which were no longer in use and acting as water reservoirs. But it seems that there was some to-do about the quality of the water and the rates. Vergara was mayor then, and I remarked, “But aren’t you guys co-(Marcos)loyalists?” To which my handsome and refined classmate replied, “Well, you know, sometimes it’s harder to deal with friends.”